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Carroll injured again, despite training ground move

Andy Carroll: Picked up a groin injury

West Ham’s decision to move to their Rush Green training site may have been taken to prevent injures but it has not stopped Andy Carroll picking up a groin problem this week.

Slaven Bilic and the club decided to move first-team training to their academy site, which is likely to undergo extensive renovations throughout 2016, after the surface at their Chadwell Heath base was identified as a major factor in a number of injuries to the squad.

With Dimitri Payet, Winston Reid, Victor Moses, Diafra Sakho and Manuel Lanzini already missing, the move was made to prevent further issues – although Bilic revealed on Friday morning that Carroll has since suffered another slight injury set-back.

“We have a situation with Andy Carroll in that he is feeling his groin,” the Hammers boss said.

“We’re going to see but it looks like he’ll be off for the Swansea game, which is a big blow, but that’s it regarding injuries.

“I think it will be one game only, that’s what the medical team has told me. It’s nothing major.”

Carroll has endured a torrid time with injuries since moving to Upton Park and if he does miss the trip to the Liberty Stadium it leaves Bilic short of options in attack.

He does have fit-again Enner Valencia available, while Nikica Jelavic could make his first start since joining from Hull in the summer.

Bilic has backed the pair to step up and again refused to blame a run of six games without a win on the mounting injury list.

“We have the choice of Valencia or Jelavic up front,” he added.

“They are quality players, they are good players and they are different players. Maybe the two of them will play together.

“We still have a couple of good strikers on our roster, even without Sakho and Carroll.

“I am really pleased with the way we have coped without our injured players.

“The bonding, the quality and the character we have showed are positive, of course, so I’m really confident for Sunday’s game.

“If we keep that kind of team spirit when these players start to come back, it’s all very positive, but we have to go through this period of two or three games without them.”